Staring Down Her Defences
by Blamedbear
Summary: How Castle's staring at her can impact on Kate's Defenses, can and does lead to more.   First fanfic posted  M-To be totally safe
1. Chapter 1

Yet again he sat there staring intently at her while she finished up the paperwork for the case they'd just finished. She had forgotten how many times she'd told him it was creepy. She'd ignored it long enough by letting the hair tucked behind her ear fall loosely beside her eyes. This afforded her the chance to glance sideways at him to watch his facial expressions change as he was trying to get inside of her head.  
"Castle, what do you want?" Beckett snapped. "You've been staring at me for 20 minutes."  
"How do you know that I've been staring at you for twenty minutes if you haven't been staring at me behind this," he says as he softly pushes her hair back behind her ear. "Admit it you've been staring at me just as much as I've been staring at you except I've been doing it openly."  
"I have NOT been staring, you do realise I have better things than to stare at you all day." Beckett said pointing to her paperwork.  
"Ok I'll concede that you probably haven't been staring, but you have been taking long meaningful glances at me for extended amounts of time." Castle smirked.  
"Argh" Kate groaned. How was she expected to not shoot him when his being incredibly annoying. '_If I'm totally honest with myself I would have been glancing at him'_ she stood and grabbed her mug from her desk. '_I'm never ever going to tell him that.'_

Castle followed her to the break room "Kate, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."  
"You didn't? Well fine by me just leave me alone." Beckett said harshly.  
"If I didn't know you better Kate, I'd say you sound disappointed. Are you disappointed?" Castle smirked as he made himself and Kate a coffee.  
"And why does that matter? You're never going to get the chance to act on it." Kate smiled as she took a sip of coffee.  
Castle didn't respond, he took a step towards Kate pinning her between the counter and himself taking their mugs and sitting them down "See Kate you never know whats going to happen, you could stop me right now if you wanted to but I'm gunna bet I can do this" Castle paused closing the distance between his and Kate's lips, allowing them to meet softly before pulling back "And like I thought, you didn't even attempt to push me away. Can I do it again?"  
Kate took the initiative this time leaning forward brushing her lips against Ricks harder than he had, within moments her arms found their way around his neck. Suddenly there was a forced cough from the doorway followed by chuckling.

Kate and Rick sprung apart like teenagers that were caught making out by either of their parents. The heat in Kate's cheeks spread all over her face, as she dropped her vision to the ground. Rick slowly straightened his shirt and smiled at the guys standing in the doorway.  
"So, now we know why it takes you two so long to get coffee." Esposito said crossing his arms over his chest.  
Kate raised her eyes up to meet his.  
"I... we... excuse me." Kate said shoving roughly passed both Esposito and Ryan and headed towards the ladies room.  
"Kate..."Rick begun but the door to the bathroom already closed. "Guys really, Was that necessary?" He groaned.  
"Hey man, sorry. If I were you I'd either follow her before she thinks this through too much or run for the hills when she comes out." Esposito said stepping out of the door way to let Rick walk passed easily.  
"Castle, can you tell Beckett we're sorry. We'll cover for you guys if anyone asks."

Castle walked quickly towards the bathroom, glancing around making sure nobody was watching him except the boys before stepping into the ladies room knocking gently on the door "Kate" he said as he stepped through the door. He could hear the soft sounds of someone crying. He walked towards the only closed door in the room, knocking once again. "Kate, I'm so sorry." He started but was quickly cut off by Kate.  
"Don't worry about it Castle, I'm fine. Just I can't believe I let that happen. I should be the one apologising anyway, not only to the guys for how I reacted, but also to you. I really did enjoy what we were doing, it just that..."  
"You don't need to explain Kate, I mean I understand. Can you please come out so I can see you?" Castle said softly.

The door to the cubicle slowly opened with a squeak, Kate's eyes were slightly puffy and red, but she looked gorgeous in Castle's eyes. She walked towards one of the sinks to wash her face, hoping the cold water would help diminish some of the puffiness in her face. Rick watched her for a moment, before striding towards her and rubbing her back gently.  
"Kate, I shouldn't have put you in that position." He noticed her head lift slightly and caught her eyes in the mirror. Her walls crumbled around her, eyes stinging from new tears beginning to form. "I'm not sorry we kissed but I should have waited till we were alone, and preferably not somewhere so public like your work place."  
Kate reached for paper towel to dry her face, she felt Rick run his arms down her back and in front of her. His closeness made her heart skip a beat. She thought about taking a step away from hi, pulling away further, but she didn't want to be out of his arms.  
"Rick... What are we?" She said spinning in his arms to face him, nervously looking into his deep blue eyes.  
"Well that depends." Rick smirked at her.  
"Depends on what?" Kate questioned  
"On what you want us to be, I'd like it to mean that we're trying this... Us." Rick began rubbing his hands over her back again.  
"I would too." She said softly.

Rick smiled at her, and leaned down slowly meeting her lips once more. She moaned softly and pulled him closer to her. They broke apart after a few minutes. Rick noticed tears slowly rolling down her cheeks.  
"What's with these tears gorgeous girl?" Rick asked carefully cupping her cheeks in his hands  
"I just" she took a deep breath before exhaling shakily "I love you." Kate said a shy blush forming on her cheeks.  
His lips met hers softly for a second or two, before saying "I love you too."

Ryan and Esposito couldn't hear anything breaking, or any screams and most importantly no gunshots from inside the toilet. They had finally just rested their backs against the wall beside the door, jumping when they heard the door open and Kate and Castle stepping out smiling.  
"Beckett we're..." Ryan started until Kate raised her hand placing it on his shoulder.  
"Don't worry about it Ryan" she placed her other hand on Esposito's shoulder. "You guys did nothing wrong. You guys are like my brothers; no you guys are my brother. I love you guys." The two men's mouths dropped open; it was the first time Kate had ever admitted such a thing to either of them. They closed their mouths and looked at castle who smiled.  
"Kate thanks." Ryan said.  
"Yeah thanks" Esposito said.  
"Ok guys, come on back to work." Kate smiled at their dumbfounded looks.

The three detectives and the writer returned to work when Kate heard her phone chirp registering a text. She opened the text taking a deep breath **'Girl, what did you do to Javi and Kev, their acting like someone just gave them a pay rise. Come down and see me when you get a chance.'** Kate smiled, shaking her head. Rick noticed this and reached for the phone. Kate handed it to him. Rick smiled handing it back "You've really made those two so happy. You know that they'll never forget this Kate."  
"I should have told them sooner. They've always been there no matter what I did; ready to beat the living daylights out of anyone who did or said anything to me that caused me pain." Kate smiled placing her hand on his. "And you, I should have told you I loved you sooner as well. I'm done hiding behind my fears. If we're going to do this don't let me hide behind my fears, but we can't be to open about us at work."  
"Sure thing Kate, you should probably go see Lanie before she comes up here on a rampage for information. I'll go grab us some food, Chinese or Remy's?" Rick smiled rubbing his thumb over her knuckles.  
"Remy's sounds great." Kate stood and let him kiss her cheek "I'll be back up probably in 20 minutes. If not text me when you get back."  
Rick watched her walk towards the elevator, he smiled.

The elevator reached the floor of the morgue with a ding. Kate took a deep breath before stepping off, knowing this was going to be a difficult conversation, and probably loud conversation. She pushed through the morgues door, seeing Lanie leaning against her desk finishing her notes.  
"Hey girl" Lanie said without looking up.  
"Hey Lanie" Kate sat on the empty slab, swinging her legs back and forth.  
"So what exactly happened up there that made Javi and Kev like they did?" Lanie asked joining her friend on the slab.  
"I'm guessing you want the whole story not just what caused their reactions." Kate watched as Lanie nodded her head "Ok, Castle was staring at me again, and it pissed me off so I snapped at him and then walked off to get coffee. He followed, pinning me between him and the counter and kissed me." She stopped again when she heard Lanie's breath catch in her throat.  
"You and Writer-boy finally kissed. About damn time girl! Anyway how was it?" Lanie asked smirking  
"It was good; I mean once he pulled back he said he wanted to do it again. That's when I leaned forward and kissed him." Lanie shrieked. "God, Lanie. I haven't even gotten to the worst and the best bits of this story."  
"What do you mean worst and best bits?" Lanie said sounding slightly confused.  
"Well the guys caught us, I walked off. Upset that I had allowed this to happen. Don't worry too much though, that's the worst bit. The best bit will make up for that." Kate took a deep breath watching Lanie motion for her to continue "OK well I walked into the ladies room, Rick follo"  
Lanie cut her off "Its Rick now?"

Kate sighed "Lanie are you going to let me finish I'm getting closer to the best bit." She saw Lanie nod "OK, he followed. We talked a bit through the cubical door. I was crying. He was so worried. He asked me to come out so he could see me, and we kissed again, I also told him I loved him, which led to another kiss, and him saying it back."  
"You told him that you loved him?" Lanie asked dumbfounded.  
"Yes, I did." Kate smiled.  
Lanie jumped off the slab and pulled Kate off with her pulling her into a hug.  
"Girl, finally!" Lanie held her tighter "But that doesn't explain the guys."

Kate pulled out of the hug. "Well I reacted badly to the guys catching Rick and I so I barged through them, once me and Rick stepped out of the ladies room, they tried to apologise, and I stopped them. I apologised to them, and told them they were like my brothers, but corrected that saying they were my brothers and also added that I loved them."  
Lanie shrieked louder than the first time "Honey... Wow, I..." Lanie took a deep breath clearing her head and started again "No wonder the guys looked like they won the lottery, you made them so happy. But wow, once you tell one man you love him, it opens the flood gates to the other important people in your life." Lanie smirked at Kate again.  
"Yeah I guess Rick kind of broke through all of my defences." Kate laughed. "Now there's only four other people I need to talk to."  
"What do you mean girl." Lanie questioned.  
"Well I of course need to speak to Lex and Martha. But I also should probably talk to the captain and thank him for everything he has done." Kate said in a matter of fact tone.  
"That's only three." Lanie commented.  
"Oh yeah, well I better tell the fourth how much of an impact on my life they've had, how much I love them. And how important their friendship and how I consider them my best friend maybe even the sister I never had." Kate watched Lanie's face go from a blank gaze to a smile to shock. "I love you Lanie more than I've ever told you or ever shown. You are my sister; you've always had my back, even if you kicked my arse about this Rick thing. You are irreplaceable."

Lanie took a step back, leaning against the empty slab again, and tears forming in her eyes. "Wow Kate, you really know how to make someone feel great about themselves I now see how the guys felt." Lanie took a breath and continued "I love you too girl but you already knew that."  
Kate pulled Lanie into a hug. "Thank you for everything. I'll owe you forever."  
"Don't worry about it girl. I'm just glad you've finally acted on your feelings for Castle... sorry Rick. Where is he anyway?"  
"He went to get lunch; I should get going he'll be back soon. I promise not to wait so long to tell you or the guys how much you mean to me. Hopefully one day it won't come as such a shock." Kate smiled as Lanie laughed.  
"OK, go have lunch. If you see Javi can you send him down here?" Lanie smirked  
"Sure thing Lane." Kate walked out of the morgue.  
"Well about damn time girl" Lanie said to herself.

Rick had grabbed the burgers and shakes, and had just sat back at Kate's desk when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. "Hey Castle, you got a moment" Esposito asked.  
"Yeah sure, what do you need?" Rick asked  
"Not here, break room." Ryan commented as he walked away.  
Rick stood, slightly confused but followed anyway. Stepping through the break room door  
"So, we just wanted to let you know that if you hurt our sister, in anyway, Lanie, Ryan and I will kill your arse faster than you could say "Nikki Heat'." Esposito said stepping closer to Castle.  
"And if they ever found the body, Lanie will swear black and blue that it was a natural death. So are we clear." Ryan added.  
"Sheesh, guys I'm not going to hurt her. I've waited so long for her; I'm not going to do anything to hurt her. I promise." Rick said seriously.  
"Good." Ryan said. "Well get back out there before she gets back to her desk"  
"And this conversation doesn't leave this room." Esposito said stepping away from Rick.

Rick got back to Kate's desk shaking his head as she stepped off the elevator a smile forming on her face when she saw him.  
"Hey, I got you a hamburger with the lot, light on the onions; I also got a medium fries to share and two double chocolate surprise thick shake." Rick said as Kate took her seat.  
"What is a double chocolate surprise thick shake?" Kate questioned taking the drink looking at it suspiciously.  
"Taste it before you judge it. I promise you it's great." Rick smiled grabbing the burger bag and his drink and headed towards the break room once again.  
Kate took a small sip, noticing a fruity flavour with the ever present chocolate. "Mmm, wow."  
"Rick what is in this? It's awesome." Kate said sitting across from him.  
"It's got a scoop of cherry ice-cream in it." Rick smiled.  
"Cherry ice-cream, really? Wow. I love it." Kate smiled at him.  
"Well good. I hoped you would. I saw the cherry ice-cream, when I ordered and thought; well you like to smell like cherries so why wouldn't you like cherry ice-cream." Rick handed her a burger and opened the fries.

They ate lunch quietly, just enjoying spending time together. Their hands met when they reached for fries. Both smiling every time they bumped hands. Esposito walked in to grab a coffee, glancing quickly at the new couple.  
"Oh..." Kate begun with her mouthful, she swallowed quickly "Hey Javi. Lanie wanted you down at the morgue. She should still be there."  
"Thanks Beckett." Esposito left his mug and headed towards the door.  
"Javi, when I call you Javi, you can call me Kate. When I call you Esposito call me Beckett. I'll tell Kev the same." Kate smiled.\  
Javi took a glance over his shoulder and shrugged.  
"Wow this is a different side of you Kate." Rick commented softly  
"Yeah I know, I think I'm freaking them all out, but hey I'm happy, you have brought out the best in me. I guess." She reached for his hand.  
"Glad to help." He brought her hand to his lips kissing it gently.

Kate left Rick to throw out their empty containers and wrappers as she went to talk to the captain.  
She knocked on his office door and waited for him to signal her in "Hey cap' you got a moment?"  
"Sure thing Beckett, come in." Montgomery said looking up from his paper work. "What can I do for you?"  
"This isn't exactly work related, so you sure you got time?" Kate said softly avoiding eye contact. He nodded.  
"I have the time, Beckett whats this about?" Montgomery folded his hands onto his desk  
"Well, I need no want to thank you for everything you've done for me, from helping me get my footing when I first made detective and also pulling me back into line when I need it. I really do appreciate everything you've done." Kate sat forward in her seat  
"Kate, is this your way of saying your quitting? If it is, I'm not going to accept your resignation. Not a chance." Montgomery said firmly.  
"What, no. That's not what I was getting at Roy. I really am just thanking you and saying I appreciate everything you've done. I'm not quitting I love this job, this precinct." Kate smirked realising now just how her confession sounded.  
"Well, I appreciate the thanks Kate, but seriously whats brought all this on?" Roy prompted.  
"I guess you deserve to know, Rick and I have started dating. I guess his brought the best out in me, Don't worry you're not alone with the freaking out over my behaviour today, I've now succeeded in freaking out Esposito, Ryan and Lanie and I guess I can now add you to that list as well." Kate smiled, noticing Roy moving out of his seat and walking towards her.  
"You haven't freaked me out, you've given me the chance to see the woman I knew you were, the darkness in your eyes has lifted, you've realised you have a family outside of just you and your dad." Roy sat on the front of his desk "You Kate Beckett, are important to all of us here don't you forget that." He placed a hand on her shoulder.  
"Thank you Roy for everything, and I know and I'm finally acknowledging that fact. Well I've taken up enough of your time now. I better get back to work." Kate said heading back to her desk where Rick sat in his chair playing with his iPhone.

Sitting back at her desk opening the folder she abandoned earlier and reread the information presented. She felt that Rick was staring again.  
"Rick, just because we are now us, doesn't make you staring less creepy you know that right?" She laughed.  
"But I'm looking at you in a different light now, your better than you were before. More open to everything and your eyes look happier." Rick smiled sitting back in his chair dragging his eyes from her.  
"Thanks Rick. If you behave we'll leave here early, pick Lex up and have a movie night or something. How does that sound?" Kate shifted her focus back to her paper work  
"That sounds great. But what exactly is involved in being good?" Rick asked excitedly.  
"For one no staring for more than a minute and you stay in that seat quietly and don't try to invade my personal space for the next 10 minutes. Fair?" Kate gestured his hand sitting on her knee.  
He pulled it away, smirked and nodded. He started playing with his phone again thankfully allowing Kate to finish her paper work.

Paperwork finished and filed and also happy that Rick could listen to directions. She stood up and grabbed her coat and bag from her desk. She placed her hand on Ricks shoulder "You coming, writer boy?"  
"Yep" Rick replied standing.  
"Night boys, head home soon." Kate called to the boys.  
"Night guys" Both Esposito and Ryan replied, looking up to watch the couple walk away.  
"You think this happy Becketts gunna last?" Ryan asked.  
"You never know, but if it doesn't we'll still have fun using this day against her." Esposito smiled evilly.

Kate and Rick sat in his car outside of Lex's school waiting for her to come out; she had told the captain she was taking the rest of the day off at 3. They were holding hands when Lex opened the car door.  
"Hey dad, hey Kate How's it going?" Lex asked sliding into the back seat, noticing the adults hands joined together. "What's this about?" she gestured to their hands.  
"Well pumpkin, we noticed earlier today what was standing right in front of us. So we're giving this a chance." Rick said smiling at Kate  
Kate turned to face the back seat reaching for Lex's hand. "You ok with this Lex, I mean it's so new for us, but I wanted you to know right from the beginning."  
"Kate, you're kidding right? I mean I noticed there was something between you and dad since the first time you came over to the house. I love dad and you make him happy." Lex thought about telling Kate how much she meant to her, but didn't think it was the time.  
"Lex, thank you so much" Kate released the girl's hand turning back to the front of the car.  
"So what do we want to do? Grab some snacks and stuff and have a movie night" Rick asked looking from his daughter to his girlfriend.  
They both nodded their heads. Rick smiled to himself thinking he could get used to this.

Six months later.  
"Hey Kate" Lex yelled from up stairs  
"Yeah Lex" Kate yelled back.  
"Can you come up here? I need your help." Lex yelled again.  
Kate looked at Rick, shrugged and leaned over and kissed him. "I love you."  
"Love you too, gorgeous." Rick said as she headed up stairs.

Kate knocked on Lex's open bedroom door.  
"So whats so important I had to come up here for?" Kate said faking an annoyed tone.  
Lex laughed softly "Well, I have a date with Ashley tonight and need your help picking what to wear. I've been staring at all of this" She gestured to everything on her bed "for the last 15 minutes and have come to the conclusion I have nothing to wear."  
Kate smiled, stifling a laugh that threatened to escape. "You have got to be kidding me. I can see about 8 different outfits, that I'm sure you would look fantastic in. But I think you need to choose this for yourself."  
"Kaaaattte" Lex groaned, looking just like her father "Come on help please. I'll do anything if you'd just point out these 8 so called outfits. Please." Lex looked at Kate with her version of her father's puppy dog look.  
"Ok ok, Lex geez you really are his daughter. Fine I'll put the eight outfits together but that's all I'm doing." Kate said placing different items together.

5 minutes later Kate had the 8 outfits she promised put together, there was 6 different outfits consisting of jeans and a cute top, one that was a skirt and top, and the last one was a dress with a pale purple cardigan.  
"Wow. Kate how did you do that?" Lex looked at her stunned.  
"Practise grasshopper, it takes heaps of practice." Kate smiled bumping her hip against the younger woman.  
"You've been hanging around Dad to long. 'Grasshopper' Seriously?" Lex laughed.  
"Ok now that I've helped. I'm going to get back down stairs, and consider what I can get you to do for me, since you did say you would do anything." Kate smirked again kissing the girls forehead, before walking out of the room laughing.

Rick looked up to watch Kate walk down the stairs laughing.  
"What's so funny?" Rick asked curiously.  
"Oh nothing just an inside joke" Kate smiled sitting beside him again, curling her legs up underneath her. "And she's so much like you. Except her Puppy dog eyes are way more effective."  
"She used them against you too huh? What did she want now?" Rick said kissing her cheek.  
"She didn't think she had anything to wear, I could see 8 clearly Alexis date appropriate outfits, and she wanted me to put them together for her." Kate said leaning her head against his chest. "She such a great kid, you've done yourself proud with that one."  
"You sound surprised." Rick commented  
"It's not a bad kind of surprised though, it just makes me think to the future." Kate said softly.  
"Is it our future together?" Rick asked sitting up a little moving Kate's head off his chest. She stretched her legs out and slid further along the couch, resting her head on the pillow he placed on his lap looking up at him.  
"Yeah our future together" Kate reached a hand up to touch his cheek.

He reached a hand down and stroked it through her hair.  
"Do you... How..." Rick stammered.  
"What Rick?" Kate asked noticing the fear in his eyes.  
"Do you want kids, one day, with me?" Rick asked.  
She paused; she bit her lower lip slightly, dragging out his pain.  
"Kate?"  
"Yeah I do want kids." Kate smiled up at him. His face brightened and he leaned down capturing her in a passionate kiss.  
"Awesome." Rick smiled "Hey does this mean the next time you're talking to Madison; you have to tell her she was right?"  
"What do you mean?" Kate questioned.  
"Well she did say you wanted to have little castle babies during your interview with her." Rick smirked, earning him a slap.  
"I guess it does." Kate grabbed his shirt pulling him down to her so she could kiss him.

They kissed for a few moments until they heard Lex clear her throat on the stairs.  
"Hey guy, I'm headed out." Lex said slowly walking towards the couch.  
"Wow Lex, you look great." Rick smiled at her.  
"Thanks dad, but I can't take credit for it, this was Kate's Idea. I noticed this was the outfit you held onto longer than the others, so I considered you liked this one the most." Lex said beaming at Kate.  
"Yeah Lex, you look absolutely gorgeous. Ash won't be able to keep his hands to himself." Kate laughed as she looked from Lex's shocked face to Rick's.  
"KATE" Both father and daughter said together.  
"What did I do?" Kate smiled innocently.  
"Ok well I'm going before someone says anything else that's embarrassing. Night Dad" She kissed his cheek "Night Kate" kissing her cheek and whispering in her ear "Can I talk to you later tonight?"  
Kate nodded saying "Have fun."  
"Not too much fun kid. Love you. Call if you're going to be late." Rick said sweetly.

They both watched as Lex walked out the front door.  
"Are you trying to corrupt my darling daughter Katherine?" Rick asked prodding her side.  
"No, I think you've tried that enough for the both of us Richard, what I said was the truth." She noticed his face twist in worry and panic "And honey that's a good thing, she's not going to make a silly mistake. Shes in love but shes not ready to take that step. Trust me with this one ok." Kate smiled sweetly up at him.  
"How did I get so lucky to not only have one of the most gorgeous and mature teenage daughters out there and the most beautiful, considerate and loving girlfriends in my life at the one time?" Rick asked his tone soft. "I really do love you more and more every moment of every day. And I love that you love Lex so much as to give her your honest opinion and advice on guys. Thank you."  
"I love you too. Rick I wouldn't no couldn't love Lex more if she was my daughter, she's so important to me that I won't allow her to get hurt in anyway. Anyhow, why don't we talk about something else before I get any mushier?" Kate sighed as Rick began running his hands through her hair.  
"Sure thing sweets, how about we watch another movie?" Rick said.

A few movies later, the front door to the loft slowly opened waking Kate from her slight doze. Rick yawned and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Kate signalled to stay quiet so they could hear the soft conversation the teens were having.  
"That was a great evening; I can't believe you ate all that ice-cream that fast without even the slightest hint of an ice-cream head ache." Ash laughed  
"Hey, I didn't eat all that ice-cream I remember I had help, but anyway tonight was great. I love you Ash." Lex's voice was hinting that she was smiling.  
"Love you too Lex. Maybe we could go out again tomorrow, or you could come by my place we can do that English assignment." Ash said before the conversation dropped away.  
Rick looked towards the door, and quickly looked away. Kate looked up at him confused. To answer her he kissed his hand dramatically, causing Kate to smile and roll her eyes.  
"That's cool, I'll text you later once I run it passed Dad and Kate, they might have plans for tomorrow night. I love you Ash."  
"Love you, Lex. Sleep well beautiful" Ask replied followed by the sound of the door closing.  
Kate smiled at Rick, as he looked down at her again mouthing the word 'Wow'.

Lex walked into the lounge, noticing the TV was still on. She turned the corner and smiled when she saw her dad and Kate smiling at her.  
"Good night Lex?" Kate smiled sitting up from her comfortable position on the couch.  
"Yeah it was great." Lex sat down on the chair to the right of the couch bringing her legs up to her chest.  
"What was this we heard about the ice-cream?" Rick asked sounding slightly jealous.  
"We ordered almost all the ice-cream flavours available at the parlour. I got through most of it in 10 minutes, before the nauseous feeling hit." Lex smiled as she told them.  
"Ok, well I think it's time for bed." Rick said slowly standing up from the couch.  
"Kate, do you mind if I talk to you for a few moments before heading to bed?" Lex asked looking at her knees.  
Kate glanced quickly at Rick, smiled and offered her hand to him.  
"I'll be there soon Hun." Kate said.  
"OK" Rick said leaning over to kiss her forehead. He walked over to Lex "Night pumpkin." He placed a kiss on her forehead before walking off to his room.  
"Night dad, see you in the morning." Alexis smile widened.

The women waited for the bedroom door to close before the conversation begun, Lex moved from the chair and sat where her father had just moved from.  
"OK Lex, whats up?" Kate said crossing her legs underneath her.  
"I don't... I can't... I... Wow this is harder than I thought." Lex sighed. Kate reached a hand out and placed it on Lex's leg "Whenever you're ready sweetheart."  
Lex closed her eyes, and took a deep breath "I've been thinking a lot about this, and I think that it might happen soon."  
"As in sex?" Kate said softly.  
Lex nodded her head. Kate inhaled deeply _'wow, Lex is ready for that step, and shes discussing it with me.'  
_"Kate" Lex said faintly "I'm scared, I'm ready for this well at least I think I'm ready."  
"Have you and Ash talked about this?" Kate prompted.  
"Yeah, we've been together for over a year now, his never pressured me. I was actually the one that brought it up." Lex replied never meeting Kate's eyes.  
"Lex, you don't have to be nervous or embarrassed talking to me about this stuff, I've been in your shoes, except I was talking to my mum, you're lucky because not only are you going to get the parental side of the discussion but you can also have the friends side of this discussion if you want." Kate smiled sliding closer to Alexis.  
"Thanks Kate, I'm sorry for interrupting your movie night, and now making you stay up later. But do you mind if we talk more tomorrow, I need some time to think about stuff." Lex said cautiously.  
"Come here" Kate opened her arms for the younger woman "Never ever think you need to apologise for needing girl talk. I'm here whenever you need me to be, no matter whats going on. And yeah sleeping on it would be good. Also, I don't mind talking about anything. I love you Lex." Kate squeezed her tightly.  
"Thanks Kate, I love you too. Can you not tell dad about this just yet, I want to have this talk with him myself." Lex said curling her face into Kate's shoulder.  
"Sure thing sweetie, go to bed we'll talk more tomorrow." Kate said pulling herself and Lex up from the couch.

As she watched Lex walk up the stairs to her room, she shook her head. _'Wow that girl never ceases to amaze me'_ Kate walked to the kitchen a grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge before heading towards their bedroom. She slowly opened the door, to see Rick sitting up with his laptop on his lap and head phones in his ears, watching another random video off the internet. She smirked as he noticed her watching him.  
"That really is creepy isn't it?" He asked removing the headphones and laptop from the bed.  
"Yeah, but you get used to it after a while." Kate slowly made her way over to her side of the bed, handing him a bottle of water, placing her own on her bedside table before moving to the bathroom to change into her sleep shirt.  
When she came back wearing nothing but the loose fitting shirt and her underwear, he lifted the blankets from her side of the bed and patted the mattress.  
"So did you and Lex have a good talk?" Rick prodded.  
"Yeah we did, but you're not going to know about it until she mentions it to you herself. I promised I wouldn't Rick. She trusts m, plus I'm pretty sure she'll tell you sooner rather than later." Kate slid under the sheets and moved closer to him.  
"I love that you and Lex are getting closer that's so important to me." Rick smiled as he place a soft kiss on Kate's exposed shoulder. Snuggling closer after he turned off the la

When Kate woke the next morning, Rick wasn't beside her; she slowly climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. She came out 15 minutes later, dressed in her work clothes and hair tied back for the day ahead. She walked towards the door pulling it open slowly to see where Rick and Lex were. She saw them both sitting at the kitchen bar, eating fruit and pancakes. She smiled as she saw them lean their shoulders together. Rick turned to the bedroom door and his smile widened.  
"Kate, you're up. I'll get you some coffee and make you a pancake if you've got time." Rick said walking towards her.  
"Morning Rick" Kate walked quickly towards him meeting his embrace and gently kissing him for a moment before pulling away and walking over to Lex. "Morning Lex." She placed an arm over the girl's shoulders.  
"Morning Kate, well I better be off, I'm meeting up with Ash before school." Lex said kissing Kate's then her dad's cheek.  
"So choc-chip pancakes sound good?" Rick asked passing her a cup of coffee.  
"Sure thing" Kate said taking Lex's place at the bar.  
"Ok give me about 8 minutes and you'll have your pancakes." Rick smiled as he turned back to the pancake mix. He has been planning this moment for a while, and he had finally thought of a cute way to ask.

He poured a large amount of pancake mix into the pan, and spread it around the base until it was about the size of a bread plate. He slowly started to spell out his message in choc-chips when Kate asked "How many choc-chips are you putting in these pancakes?"  
"Don't you worry that pretty little head of yours Kate; you'll burn the sugar and calories off at work." Rick smirked as he continued quickly.  
He waited as it cooked on one side and then he had to flip it. He watched anxiously as it cooked, hoping that this worked or he'd have to accidentally drop this one. He turned to Kate and leaned over towards her kissing her cheek gently as she read through the paper slowly.  
Rick carefully lifted the pancake out of the pan and flipped it onto a plate; his message was still perfectly clear, as he lowered one hand to his jeans pocket and felt the jewellery box within it. He smiled as he placed the plate in front of Kate. She looked at him saying thanks, before finally looking at the pancake, where she saw his choc-chip message of _'Will you marry me?"  
_"Rick?" Kate questioned.

He walked silently around to her side of the kitchen bar and pulled the box from his pocket, kneeling down on one knee in the old cliché "Kate Beckett, I love you now, and will love you forever. I want our future to begin now. Will you marry me?" Rick smiled as he saw tears forming in her eyes.  
She swallowed deeply, willing the tears not to fall. "Yes." Rick slid the ring onto her finger and kissed it once it was in place. "I love you Rick."  
"I love you too Kate." He moved in closer wrapping his arms around her waist pulling her closer before kissing her passionately, eliciting a moan from deep within her. She pulled back slowly.  
"Eat your breakfast, so we can head to work sweetie." Rick said stepping back into the kitchen to grab another cup of coffee.

She pulled out her phone and took a picture of her pancake proposal. Lanie would so want to see this. She smiled again looking down at her ring, it was an understated ring, the diamond and emeralds were more delicate, set on a simple silver band. She pulled it off her finger slowly not really wanting to remove it, but looked at the inside of it where she saw engraved "KB+RC Always." She felt the tears she had manage to stop slide down her cheeks. She slipped the ring back on. She ate her pancake smiling.

TBC-if you want it to be.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine.  
****A/N:**** somewhat shorter chapter, procrastination needs to end sometime. **

Kate walked out of the elevator and through the morgues doors, shoving her hands into her pockets "Morning Lanie."  
"Morning Girl, where's writer-boy?" Lanie said turning away from her paperwork.  
"He's upstairs, making coffee. But I needed to show you something. You got time?" Kate said smiling pulling her hands out into view.  
Lanie's eyes grew wide as she noticed the ring on her left ring finger. "Well if that's what I think it is, sure I've got time."

Kate chuckled nodding and walking over to one of the slabs jumping up onto it.  
"Yeah, it's what you think it is. He asked this morning, well technically he spelt it in choc-chips but then he did ask."  
Lanie squealed in delight pulling Kate off the slab to give her a hug, holding her extremely tightly  
"Lanie...can't...breathe" Lanie released her tight grip.  
"I'm so happy for you. But you need to explain this choc-chip thing, because I don't understand it." Lanie grinned thinking to herself _'I so knew this was coming, I've know it from day one.'_

Kate reached back into her pocket to grab her phone; she opened the image of the pancake before handing it to Lanie. Lanie's grin grew larger, _'damn that man knows how to be so cute and romantic.'_ "Wow, he wrote it on a pancake." Lanie sounded excited "That's a new one."  
"Yeah, I mean he spent almost 5 minutes putting choc-chips into this one huge pancake, and I didn't even have a clue, so much for being a detective huh?" Kate laughed  
"Sweetie, I don't think he even expected the proposal to go that way, he probably just got it in his head as the perfect way, not that that's a bad thing, it looks like this was exactly what you would have preferred anyway, not a huge public thing, just something sweet and just for you." Lanie smirked passing the phone back to Kate.

"It was perfect Lanie; he looked so worried when he asked me almost like he thought I'd say no."Kate said softly.  
"Everyone get's worried when they propose, it's a huge step." Lanie calmly replied.  
"You sound like you've had experience; I didn't think you and Esposito are that serious yet." Kate bumped Lanie's shoulder with hers.  
"Hey girl, don't even think of changing the subject, we need to discuss this wedding you'll be planning." Lanie smirked.  
"OK, ok I'll drop it for now, but we can't plan this wedding until you answer me a question." Kate grinned trying not to laugh.  
"What question?" Lanie asked confused.  
"Do you think Lex and Jenny would like to be my bride's maids?" Kate smirked  
"Yeah, Lex would appoint herself a bridesmaid if you didn't and Jenny would love to as well I'm guessing." Lanie looked a little deflated, that wasn't the question she'd expected.  
"Ok good. Well I gotta get back up stairs." Kate said beginning to walk off, Lanie stood in the door of the morgue and watched Kate step inside "Oh by the way your my Maid of honour." Kate finished as the doors slid closed. She heard a scream of excitement and laughed.

Kate's phoned buzzed in her pocket, she knew it had to be Lanie.  
'**Imma smack you the next time I see you girl that was nasty.'  
**Kate typed a quick reply of **'Yeah, it probably was but you love me. And anyway you now know you're the maid of honour. Love you.'  
**Smiling as she stepped into homicide. She saw Rick sitting at her desk, talking on the phone "No, Paula you will not use this as great press for sales. How many times have I told you that my life with Kate, or Alexis or my mother is to not be used for book sales?" Kate saw anger in those gorgeous blue eyes. "Paula, you do this and you're sacked, I don't care if you have a contract for the next three years I will change publicists."..."give me a second Paula." He looked up at Kate "Would you mind if Paula came here to have a conversation with us, she needs to put together the press release."  
Kate smiled and kissed his check "No problem, but you'll have to explain that argument to me when you hang up" she whispered in his ear.  
"Paula that's fine, can you be here in 15 minutes?"..."Ok see you then." Rick hung up.

Kate sat in her chair as he slid his phone into his pocket. "So what did she try to do this time?"  
"She wanted to give the press open invitations to our wedding, have our honeymoon recorded, and added to the DVD as a bonus feature for the people behind Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook."  
"She wanted what now?" Kate sounded utterly disgusted by the idea.  
"Babe, you don't need to worry, I told her; one our wedding would be a completely private event, family and friends. Once it's done we'd release a few photos, which we both approve of. Secondly, our honeymoon, would never be recorded and sold as an extra, if we make family videos that's exactly what they are family videos. And thirdly, I love you more than anything, well except for Alexis, but that's a different type of love." He added at the end to lighten the mood. He watched Kate take a deep breath and release it before she said anything.

"You know something; I don't think I've ever seen you that angry at Paula even when she suggested we have press follow us while we do our jobs." She grabbed his hand "You, Richard Castle, are the best thing that's ever happened to me, well except for Alexis that is." She smirked as she repeated his words back at him.  
He moved closer to her, placing a soft kiss on her lips before pulling back and smiling. "You Katherine Beckett are gorgeous, talented and have many other positive attributes. I just need you to promise me one thing before Paula shows up." She nodded at him "you won't hurt or kill her when she mentions anything like before"  
Kate smiled at him "I promise I won't do anything bad. I may however treat her like a suspect who isn't cooperating."  
"That's my girl." Rick smiled at her before leaning back in to touch his nose to hers. "I love you"  
"I love you too." Kate lowered her lips to his not worrying about where they were until they heard wolf whistles coming from behind them.

"Wow, I'm surprised they get any work done when they do that for a good 5 minutes ignoring everything around them." Esposito said in a stage whisper to Ryan.  
"Yeah I know. It made me kinda sick." Ryan laughed at the death glare he received from Beckett.  
"Javi, Kev, you think it's wise messing with me?" Kate continued to glare.  
"Well Kate, we weren't the ones making out in the middle of the precinct yet again. And what exactly are you going to do about it?" Javier said smirking at her and Castle.  
"Well, Mr Javier Esposito, you just remember who controls the wedding invites and has veto power over the groom's men and considering Ms Lanie Parish is the maid of honour you better behave yourself. As for you Mr Kevin Ryan, Jenny will be asked to be a bride's maid, and I assume you'd like to be with your wife." Kate said seriously, almost laughing at the confused shocked looks on their faces when they clued on to what she was talking about.

"You guys are engaged?" the boys said together.  
"Yeah, we are." Rick smirked pulling his chair closer to Kate's.  
"Seriously dude wow, congratulations Kate, Rick" Kev said first.  
"Congrats Kate, you deserve this, Rick why didn't you tell us?" Javi said to rick before being distracted by the angry woman storming out from the elevator.  
"Richard Castle, how dare you threaten to fire me?" Paula said loudly as she stomped towards Kate's desk.

"Paula, you need to calm down you are in a police station." Kate said pointedly. "If you'd like to follow us we'll go somewhere more appropriate to have this conversation." Kate stood, grabbing Ricks hand before turning to the boys "Guys if we get a case, you guys right to handle it I'm not sure how long this'll take." She saw them nod, before she opened the door to the conference room "After you Paula." Kate gripped Ricks hand for dear life. She dropped her voice to barely above a whisper "Rick, I love you."  
"I love you too, come on let's get this over with."

They sat across the table from a very pissed off looking Paula.  
"Rick, I understand where you're coming from, Kate's not used to the press and I realised that now I shouldn't have suggested what I did."Paula said.  
"Paula, you know my private life and all that involves is never to be used for sales." Rick stated.  
"I remember this from something to do with Alexis that would have helped book sales, and you lost it." Paula smirked turning to Kate "You do know that now that you're engaged you'll have to be more open to the public, we have to consider the impact on Ricks work."  
Kate's face reddened with anger Rick couldn't respond, he sat there staring at Kate watching her anger bubble away.

"For your information Paula, My engagement to Rick is not now and never will be an issue with Ricks writing. Now about these stupid outlandish ideas you came up with, My Life with Rick and My Family with Rick, are out of bounds, if you come up with any other ideas like these again, keep them to yourself. Now topic you can discuss with the press without consulting me about the statements, are Rick's books, Rick's book tours and his readings and signings. Everything else Rick and I will sit down with you away from here, considering this is my place of work." Kate said angrily yet still managing to control the situation.

Ricks eyes never left Kate; he could almost see her beginning to build her defences back up, not towards him but to the idea of the public invading her world.  
"Fine Kate but we need to release some sort of announcement about the engagement, which will mean you have to do some interviews, these interviews will have to include Alexis, Martha and your family." Paula said softly.  
"Fine, but if any of them don't want to participate they don't have too." Kate snapped.  
"I'll set everything up for this. Rick and Kate congratulations. I'll be in touch" Paula smiled softly reaching a hand out to Rick who shook it, before doing the same to Kate. Kate looked at the hand then up at Paula, before reaching out and shaking the hand.

Kate sat completely still, taking deep breaths, before placing her head down on the desk in front of her.  
"Sweetie please talk to me." Rick said softly placing an arm around Kate's back.  
"I can't believe she thought we'd agree to those stupid ideas." Kate mumbled into the desk.  
"I know, I told her we wouldn't do it."  
"Yeah, I believe you Hun, but I need time to think." Kate turned to look at him.  
"OK, some time would be good; maybe we could take today off and spend some time at home. Montgomery won't mind." Rick smiled at her. She looked into his gorgeous blue eyes, seeing all the love and concern within them. She placed a hand on his cheek and nodded her head.

Three and a half weeks later they were sitting on the couch in the loft, eating burgers and sipping on milkshakes.  
"Hey, why don't we talk about our wedding, start making some plans?" Rick suggested.  
"Yeah, ok." Kate smiled. "Have you decided on your grooms men?"  
"Of course I have, I've just gotta ask them, and put them in order." Rick said sliding closer to her and sitting back against the couch. Kate sat back and curled slightly into his side.  
"You realise with your groom's men, Roys going to be Alexis' partner for the official photos and dances?" Kate smirked.  
"He is the only one I'll trust with my little girl."  
"She's not so little any more Rick." She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "But the good thing is we know our maids and our men will get along considering you've got two relationships and Roy adores Lex."

"You realise Kate, we've planned our maids and men, but not our date or venue. We're going about this somewhat backwards." Rick nuzzled against her neck, occasionally nipping at the skin with his teeth.  
"Rick, stop that's not helping me think." Kate giggles softly tilting her head slightly towards him trying to break his contact.  
Rick pulled back and pouted, giving her puppy dog eyes.  
"Not working honey, you're the one that wanted to talk about this now quit distracting me." Kate smiled and touched his bottom lip gently.

Rick sat up a little turning to face Kate. He stared at her while she thought, noticing the furrows on her forehead, he loved the way she looked when she did that. She drew her bottom lip between her teeth, biting down on it gently, before she turned her attention to the love of her life who was staring at her yet again.  
"Don't you ever get bored of staring at me; I must have been doing things with my face that you've seen at least a thousand times." Kate asked frowning  
"Yeah, you were but it's so cute" she slapped him gently "I mean gorgeous. But honestly I could spend all my time admiring you. So while you were being cu...Gorgeous did you think of a place you want to get married?" Rick said rubbing his hands along her thighs.

A blush rose in Kate's cheeks, "I was thinking maybe the little church near my Dad's house where he and mum were married." She took a deep breath looking down at the couch between them. "I mean it's just I'd like to have that connection"  
"Kate, we can get married where ever you like, as long as it's meaningful and what you've always dreamt of." Rick smiled at her nervousness. "So, now that we have a place, we just need to go there and see what times they have available. Perfect time for a road trip, maybe we can stop by and see your dad while we're there."  
"Yeah, I'd like that." Kate smiled leaning over to kiss him.

The kiss got heavier and more passionate; she pushed him back against the arm of the couch and straddled his legs. His hands found a comfortable place on her butt. He slipped his hands into her back pockets of her jeans drawing her hips closer to his. She moaned into his mouth, as she ran her hands down his sides, she lifted her hips and pulled his shirt from his waistband. She worked from the bottom up undoing the button slowly, as he kept distracting her. His hands slowly left the confines of her back pockets, as she moved her hips provocatively against his, causing him to groan as he grew harder. He slid his hand up under the back of her shirt and ran them up to her shoulders, allowing the shirt to ride up with his arms. She smiled against his lips, kissing her way towards his right ear; she nips at his earlobe pulling it away with her teeth. Her actions cause his hips to rise from the couch putting more pressure between them, which insights moans from both of them.

"Kate, Hun, we should move." Rick said breathlessly.  
"Why?" Kate replied with a groan. "Aren't you enjoying yourself Ricky?" She rolled her hips against him harder.  
"That the... thing... too much... not here...bedroom." Rick tried to say, unsuccessfully due to pleasure. "Stop...too much...want you...enjoy you...oh god." Kate smirked as he said this she knew he was close to losing himself in the pleasure she was giving him. She placed a gentle kiss on his lips before removing herself from him. She looked at him shyly and reached for his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am extremely sorry for those of you who read and followed this story... Life, uni ****and everything got in the way. Hopefully things have now settle down enough. ****I h****ave another chapter almost ready to post. Thank you for sticking with the story.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Castle and characters are most likely OOC.**

**Chapter 3.**

Rick opened his eyes the next morning to see Kate standing in the door way watching him

"Hey sweetie, what time is it?" Rick yawned.

"It's heading for 8. I need to head to work in about 10 minutes." Kate walked over and sat beside him, running her hand softly through his hair. "Good morning."

Rick pulled Kate carefully down to him and kissed her. "Morning" He kissed her again "I'll be at the precinct in an hour, with coffee and food."

"Sounds good Hon. I'm hoping for an early knock off from work tonight only paperwork to finish, hopefully no cases come in after lunch because I was thinking we could swing passed here, grab Alexis and head to the church to check it out and also maybe see my Dad." Kate smiled sitting up again.

"Sure thing, but can we leave early anyway. I'd really love to start firming up the wedding plans, and we can't do that until we have a time and date booked at the church." Rick said smiling.

Kate stood and nodded. "Alright I'm heading off, I'll let the Captain and the boys know about this afternoon. I love you."

"Love you too Sweetheart." Rick replied sitting up in bed.

Kate pulled her bag out from the passenger side foot well and locked the car. She smiled and bit her lip she couldn't believe that they were actually taking step towards the wedding, that afternoon. She loved the idea of getting married where her parents had said their vows, but also worried that Rick and Alexis wouldn't like the church.

She walked almost on autopilot through the lobby to the elevator and rode up to the homicide department. Her first step was dropping her stuff at her desk before nodding at the boys as she headed towards Montgomery's office. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door, waiting until she heard the 'Come In'

"Morning Beckett what can I do for you?" Montgomery asked putting his pen down.

"Morning Sir. Um Rick and I are planning on looking at a place for the wedding this afternoon, I was just wondering if it was ok for me to take a half day today?" Kate said, biting her lip once again.

Montgomery sat up a little taller. "I can't see a problem with that Kate. Actually aren't you and your team off this weekend?" Kate nodded. "Well I want you, Esposito and Ryan to finish whatever paperwork you have from the last case and head out for a long weekend by 1 this afternoon. I don't want to see any of you three here until Monday morning and no earlier than 8:30am"

"Sir it's only Thursday." Kate said looking shocked.

"I know it's only Thursday Kate and that doesn't change my mind. I will make it an order if you don't take it." Montgomery smirked, almost daring her to argue.

Kate sighed knowing she wouldn't win this one, nodding "Thank you sir, I'll let the boys know."

As she walked out of his office towards the boys desks, she shook her head. "Hey guys, we have until 1 at the latest to finish the paperwork."

"What" "Come on Beckett, why?" The boys both complained.

"Settle down, we're getting a long weekend out of the deal. Montgomery said have it finished by 1 and that he doesn't want to us here until after 8:30 Monday morning." Kate said with a sigh.

"Come on Becks, a long weekend will give you time with your boy and some time to relax." Espo said.

"I know. It's just that I only asked for an early mark this afternoon." Kate smiled softly "Ok let's get to work."

Kate worked through a stack of 10 files before glancing at the clock, it was already 9:45 and shed finished the majority of the paperwork. She grabbed her phone and sent a message to Rick.

'_Hey hon. Have some good news for you. When do you think you'll be here?'_

She went back to paper work, until her phone buzzed

'**Hey sweetie, I'm just about to grab coffee. Probably 10 mins'**

She smiled and called out "hey do you guys want coffee or something, Rick's just grabbing coffee and breakfast?"

"Yeah, Coffee and an apple Danish" Esposito replied.

"The same please" Ryan said before quickly returning to work.

'_Can you grab the boys their coffee orders and an apple Danish each please?'_

"**No problem. Love you.'**

Kate returned her focus to the pages in front of her, biting the end of her pen. She didn't notice the coffee and bear claw placed on the desk in front of her until a hand touched her cheek and she jumped.

"Easy Kate, It's just me. You ok?" Rick smiled down at her.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Just got a little too focused on this." Kate grabbed his hand and held it tight.

"I gathered. So what's the good news?"

"Montgomery wants us gone by 1 and doesn't want to see us here again until Monday morning at 8:30." She sighed leaning her head against their hands that were resting on her shoulder still.

Rick leaned down and kissed her cheek. "So how much do you have left to do?"

Kate looked at her desk. "Actually once I sign this one, check the Preliminary case notes are still there and make sure the boys are done the days over."

"Here give me this one, I'll check the notes. You go check with Espo and Ryan." Rick said grabbing the file before she could complain.

Kate quickly signed the last sheet and headed over to the boys desks. "Hey you guys nearly finished?"

"Yeah, just need you to sign off on the time sheets." Espo said grabbing both his and Ryan's.

Kate grabbed them and looked them over "Hey guys, you missed the three hours you spent here Monday night trying to drag me away from the board."

The boys frowned at her. "That doesn't really count as work. We were here as your brothers not as workers."

"Still you guys know the captain would pay you for it and expect it to show up as overtime. There we go. It's done." Kate signed off on both.

"Thanks Kate. I could use the extra money; I have some kissing up to do." Espo sighed rubbing his hands on the back of his head.

"What did you do?" Kate asked sitting on the corner of his desk.

"I took Lanie to meet my family on the weekend and it may have been the first time my parents heard about Lanie." Espo said nervously.

"Javi, you and Lanie have been together how long, and you just got around to mentioning it to your mum. Oh yeah you need to kiss up for that." Kate said shocked.

"I know, I know. It's just every time in the past that I've been dating someone they always ask when we're getting married or when they are going to have grandkids to spoil. I couldn't let them scare Lanie off. I love her." Javi replied. "What can I do Kate?"

"First of all, did you explain that to Lanie?" Kate paused; Javi shakes his head "Ok, start with explaining that. But have a backup plan. Um, get some Orange infused chocolate and maybe some roses."

"Ok. Thanks Kate." Javi stand and hugs her.

"No problem, I don't want you guys arguing. Do you have plans Saturday?" Kate says as she pulls back

"Not that I know of, why?" Javi asks.

"I want to take Lanie and Alexis somewhere special. Hey Kev do you and Jenny have plans?"

"No plans Saturday." Kev said looking after turning his computer off.

"Tell Jenny she's invited too. She can text me if she want to come." Kate said walking off slowly, before turning back "Give me your paperwork, I'll hand it in to the Captain."

The boys thanked her as they handed it over to her. She walked over to her desk to grab her own.

"Rick everything good?"

"Yeah perfect, here I'll help" He grabbed her files off her desk and walked with her to the captains office.

She knocked on the captain's door for the second time this morning.

"Come in."

"Hey captain, paperwork's finished." Kate said placing it on his desk. "Also the guys have a few extra overtime hours this week."

"That's fine Kate. Ok grab your gear and head out." Roy smiled as he watched his senior detective and her fiancé walk out his door and grab their stuff. His smiled broadened when Kate looked his way and mouthed her thanks again. He nodded and watched the three detectives and the writer head towards the elevator.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Don't own Castle and characters are most likely OOC.**

**Chapter 4**

Kate looked at 'her boys' and smiled, thinking about how glad she was to have them in her life yet again. Rick noticed and nudged her with his elbow.  
"What going on in that mind of yours KB?" Rick asked smiling.  
"Just thinking that we could maybe have a family dinner at our place tomorrow, and you and the boys can find something to do Saturday after us girls go out." Kate said leaning against him.

Rick leant his head against hers. "That sounds good. Ryan, Espo you want to come round tomorrow for dinner?"  
Both guys said yes as they pulled out their phones to tell their respective partners. They all stepped towards their cars.

"Alright we need to be going. Let us know if you can't make it tomorrow night." Kate said unlocking the car.  
"Sure thing Kate, Enjoy your afternoon." Javier said before bumping fists with both Kevin and Rick. Kevin bumped his fist against Ricks before repeating the sentiments and walking towards his own car.

Rick jumped out of the car once they got back to the loft; he waited for Kate to get herself out of the car before grabbing her and pulling her towards him. "I can't wait to go to this church this afternoon, I was thinking though maybe we should invite Jim along too. I know how much this will mean to both of you."

Kate bit her lip trying to keep the tears forming in her eyes at bay. "Thank you, Rick." Rick ran his thumbs across her cheeks gently removing the tracks from the tears that had fallen.  
He held her tightly and kissed her forehead. "Come on let's go upstairs and get changed into something more casual. Then we should go grab Lex early and see if Mother will be joining us."  
Kate kissed his cheek and nodded.

45 minutes later Martha followed the couple out to the garage and into the car, heading towards Lex's school.  
Rick left Martha and Kate in the car as he ran in to sign Lex out of school early.  
"So Darling, Rick said we were looking at a church this afternoon." Martha said.  
"Yeah, we're starting to move forward in the plans. Are you busy Saturday?" Kate asked brushing the hair that had fallen on her cheek behind her ear.

"I'm free all weekend. What were you thinking for Saturday?" Martha said excitedly.  
"I was going to get Lanie, Jenny, Lex and you to come dress shopping with me. I'd really like you to be there for the motherly advice." Kate said towards her lap, almost afraid of Martha response.  
"Oh you Sweet girl, there is no need to be worried. I love you and would be so proud to be included in your dress shopping." Martha placed her hand on Kate's cheek. "Just like you tell Alexis all the time, you may not be mine but I'm here for you whenever and however you need me to be."

Kate was going to say something else when the doors opened letting Rick and Lex slip inside. Rick looked at Kate and raised an eyebrow at her in question. Kate nodded and leant over to kiss him.  
"I love you." she whispered. Rick tried to deepen the kiss.  
"Come on Dad, seriously in front of your impressionable daughter?" Lex joked.  
Martha shook her head. "Richard, I thought I taught you better than that."

Rick kissed Kate once more before turning to glare at both his daughter and his mother.  
"Sorry Lexi" Kate said turning in her seat to look at the girl, seeing her face break into a teasing smile.  
"That's ok Kate." Lex said buckling herself into her seatbelt "Where are we going?"  
"We're going to Kate's dad's place and then heading to the church we're going to get married in." Rick said starting the car.  
"Excellent, I haven't seen Pop in a while." Lex said grabbing a book out of her back pack, like nothing was out of the ordinary.

Kate looked at both Rick and Martha and knew the looks she saw on their faces were mirrored on hers.  
"Lex darling did you just call Jim Pop?" Martha asked as she was the first to recover.  
"That's what he told me to call him the last time he stayed at the loft. He said it'd be bytes than calling him Mr. Beckett all the time." Lex said softly, she looked between her dad and Kate. "Is that ok?"

Both of them smiled proudly at her.  
"That's more than ok Pumpkin." Rick said before pulling out into traffic.  
"It's perfect" Kate whispered.  
The rest of the car trip was filled with talk from Lex, asking questions about the information she was reading from her psychology text book.

They pulled up out the front of Jim's house and climbed out. Kate walked up the stairs and knocked, listening for the tell tale sighs he was headed their way. Kate smiled as the door opened.

"Hey Dad" Kate said hugging Jim.

"Hey sweetie, how are you? Was I expecting you all?" Jim asked his daughter, only now noticing the three others standing behind Kate. "Come inside" Jim pushed his daughter through the door gently. He shook Rick's hand, kissed Martha on the cheek and wrapped his arm around Lex's shoulder and walked her through to the lounge room.

Kate, Rick and Lex all sat on the couch, Martha sat in one of the arm chairs and Jim sat in the other arm chair.

"So how come you're here? Not that I'm complaining about seeing you all." Jim laughed.

"Well we actually came to check out the church down the street, the one where you and Mum got married" Kate said leaning against Rick. "We're trying to get some wedding plans under way."

Jim smile broadened. "I'm glad you've started planning it. I can't wait to walk you down the aisle, but can we not use the term 'give you away'"

Kate leant forward "Why?"

"Oh Katie, I'm not giving you away, I'm gaining a brilliant son, his equally amazing mother and an amazing granddaughter" Jim laughed, being joined by his soon to be family.

"Dad you had me slightly worried then." Kate sighed. "Do you want to come with us to look at the church?"

Jim nodded, reaching for Kate's hand. "Shall we go?"

Everyone stood up and headed towards the door again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Don't own Castle and characters are most likely OOC. ****A/N: I posted two chapters today and almost have two more to post. :)**

**A/N 2: Extremely sorry about the season/month mistake. It's fixed now.**

**Chapter 5**

They walked down the street to the church and headed inside. Kate grabbed her dads arm tightly, leaning her head on his shoulder "You ok? I know we haven't really been here together since mum's funeral."

"I'm fine Katie. I'm just thinking about how amazing you are going to look walking down the same aisle as your mother." Jim kissed her forehead and noticed Rick walking towards them.

"This is so... so... arghhh." Rick said losing his ability to speak.

"The great Richard Castle speechless, that's rarity." Jim joked as Kate poked her fiancé in the ribs.

"Hun, are you sure?" Kate said looking nervous.

Rick walked towards the front of the church, and turned to look back at Jim and Kate standing in the walk way. "Yes Kate. This is it, I can see everyone here. Alexis, Jenny and Lanie walking down moments before you appear in the gorgeous dress I know you'll find with Jim smiling proudly, yet a little reluctant to walk you towards me standing in this exact position smiling like a fool." He trailed of as he became choked up.

Kate walked quickly to him. "I can also see you walking down this aisle with Lex and also any other daughters we have." She whispered in his ear.

"I love you so much." Rick leaned down to kiss her. Kate turned her head so it landed on her cheek; he gave her a questioning look.

"Rick we're in a church. No lewd behaviour until we say I do." Kate smiled leaning up to kiss his cheek.

Jim watched the pair interact for a moment before turning to see Lex sitting in one of the pews trying to avoid drawing attention from anyone. Jim walked over to her, carefully sitting besides her trying not to frighten her.

"Hey Lex, you ok?" Jim asked reaching up to push hair behind her ear. Lex turned to look at him and he noticed the tears brimming in her eyes.

"I just realised how real all this is getting, I mean I can't wait for Kate and you to be officially my family. But I also realised if or when they do have children, they'll have two grandparents, Grams and you. I'm sorry, I'm being immature, I'm jealous of children that don't exist and probably won't for at least a year or more. I'm ok." Lex said forcing a smile on to her face.

Jim sat quietly beside Lex for a few minutes before turning to her again "You know, when Katie first told me about your Dad, I always had a feeling that this was it for her. Rick was going to be her Johanna. The way she talked about him, even before they were together, it made me draw parallels between her and her mother. But the way she talked about you, the pride and the love I saw on her face matched what I felt about her."

Jim stopped, watching Lex interpret and understand the comments before continuing "Katie loves you Lexi, possibly for longer than she loved Rick. The way she talks about you, the way she looks at you, there is absolutely no doubt in mine or anyone else's mind that you are her daughter, which also means I can claim you as my granddaughter and that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Lex stared at him for a second before flinging her arms around his neck. "Thank you Mr. Beckett. I've always wanted a grandfather."

"How about you call me Pop, can't have my grandchildren calling me Mr. Beckett can I?" Jim whispered in her ear. She nodded against his shoulder. He pulled away when he heard footsteps coming up behind them.

"Hey we're just about ready to leave. Is everything alright over here?" Kate asked taking note of their embrace.

Lex nodded "Yeah everything's ok Pop and I were just talking."

Kate's eyebrows rose at her Dad and she waited until Lex has stepped around them heading towards Martha.

"She called you Pop." She stated in slight shock. Jim nodded and smiled. Kate wrapped her arms around his chest. "She called you Pop." She said softly "What happened?"

Jim chuckled softly and held his daughter close. "She was a little upset, worried that if or when you and Rick have kids they'd have two grandparents and she'd still only have Martha. Not that she needs anyone other than Martha being a grandparent. But I'm thinking she didn't want to be left out. She's our daughter and granddaughter, no matter who gave birth to her. She is ours and we're never letting them go."

"No we're not. I appreciate everything you did to cheer her up. I've always know you wanted grandchildren. Now you can stay off our backs about giving you one." Kate joked, kissing his cheek as she pulled out of his arms.

"At least for a little while, though I would love to have a baby grandchild." Jim said walking quickly away from his now shocked daughter.

Kate was still standing were Jim had left her when Rick called out to her. "Kate. Kate you ready? The Father can meet with us now. He's going to go through the availability for us and he want to talk to us about some things."

Kate smiled nervously and walked over and held Ricks arm "I love you." She reached up to kiss his cheek again.

"Love you too KB." Rick pulled her closer and walked with her to the Fathers' office.

They stepped inside a small office no bigger than their office at home. Father Michaels held out his hand to shake Rick's and Kate's hand, before motioning for them to take a seat.

"It's nice to see you again Katherine. It's been a while; I've heard Congratulations are in order." Michaels said sitting the other side of his cluttered desk.

"Thank you. Being back here is better than I thought it would be. I'd forgotten the magic of this place." Kate said softly. "But I'm grateful you had the time to see us this afternoon."

The father nodded. "I guess we should take a look and see when you would like your wedding to take place." Michaels flipped through a few pages of the churches date book getting closer to the days date. "Is there a certain month you would like to see if there is time?"

Kate looked at Rick seeing his smile "We were thinking about maybe a mid autumn or winter."

"Ok so we're looking at October or Novermber? Let's have a look" Michaels flipped to the October pages "We have one day in October it's a Saturday the 20th the whole days free."

Rick looked at Kate nervously "I've um actually got chapters due the Friday before. I don't think it'd be the best time to try and plan a wedding. I'm sorry Hun."

Kate smiled at him and reached out to touch his cheek "Don't apologise, I understand the pressure of time. We'll just look at November."

Michaels flipped to November and nodded "Ok we have two dates both Sundays, the 10th and the 24th."

Both Kate and Rick turned to each other and smiled. "The 24th would be great." Rick said. "It's not too soon and it's winter, we might actually get snow for the photos."

Michaels picked up his pen "So I can definitely write you in. Do you have a preference for morning, afternoon or evening?"

"What about midmorning, about 10 or 10:30." Kate said softly before rambling. "Means we can get married and have pictures taken in the daylight and we can get out to the Hampton house for the reception, so everyone can stay the night and we can avoid the media."

"That sound like an excellent idea. Ok so the Castle nuptials at 10:30." Michaels wrote.

"Um how much will it cost?" Kate asked.

"I'm not going to charge you anything Kate. Consider it a wedding gift." Michaels replied smiling.

Kate looked at the father smiling. "Thank you."

Rick looked at the father and smiled "I would however like to make a donation to either the church or an organisation of your choice in appreciation."

"You really don't need to do that Richard, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of something as joyous as a wedding." Michael's said smiling. Rick conceded and held out his hand.

"Now that that's settled I'm sorry but I have some business to attend to for another couple. You are welcome to come back at any stage between now and your wedding to talk or plan more. Please enjoy your days, between now and your day." Father Michaels stood and led them back out to the church where Martha, Jim and Lex were standing lighting prayer candles.

Kate smiled as she turned to Rick. "Can you believe we now have a date for our wedding?"

Rick shook his head and pulled her towards him. "It's not very long to plan and get everything ready though."

"We'll make it Rick. It's not like it's going to be a media circus. It's just going to be us, our family and our close friends. We'll tell Paula that we'll choose pictures to release to the media the moment they're available to do so." Kate said pulling him towards their family. "We've set the date."

The three members of them turned to Kate and Rick. "Well, don't keep us waiting Katie. When are we having this wedding?"

"November 29th." Kate smiled.

"Perfect. We do however have a lot to do before then. So we better get going." Martha said, moving to hug both Rick and Kate.

"Let's go have dinner and talk over some details." Lex said smiling linking arms with Martha and Jim, walking with them towards the doors.

**Next chapter will have M rated content. **


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